Image of Turkey in the minds of Singaporians

(1)

M. •«■‘ «i :« !* ■ ,-w4 ra

■ .·■' V ί; Η. I f * . ·. ·. :ш

- • • ‘ f Г V'

(2)

IMAGE OF TURKEY

IN THE MINDS OF

SINGAPORIANS

A THESIS

SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

AND THE

g r a d u a t e s c h o o l o f b u s in e s s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n

OF BILKENT UNIVERSITY

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS

FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

BY

COŞKUN K. DİCLE

BILKENT UNIVERSITY

JUNE, 1995

(3)

H

f-- T ^

b V

(4)

I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Business Administration.

Assoc. Prof Guliz Ger

I certify that 1 have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Business Administration.

Assist. Prof Selçuk Karabati

I certify that I have read this thesis and in my opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Business Administration.

Assist. Prof Ashok Thampy

(5)

To My Wonderful Parents

(6)

ABSTRACT

It has been suggested in numerous academic studies that country image forms a crucial part of consumers' product evaluations. Moreover, country image has been found to be negative for developing countries such as Turkey. However, the possibility of changing these negative images and associations through a clear understanding of the aspects of the image, sheds light on to the aim of this study.

The main purpose of this study is to clearly lay out Turkey's image and current position in Singapore, extracting the favorable and unfavorable associations Singaporians have. In providing rich information with positioning implications, and a framework for future repositioning efforts, the aim is to enable Turkish stakeholders in developing suitable and effective international marketing strategies towards the region in question.

Key Words; Country Image, Country of Origin, repositioning, international marketing strategies, Singapore, Singaporians, Personification, Cluster Analysis, Factor Analysis, Similarity Perceptions, Attitudes.

(7)

Ö Z E T

Akademisyenler tarafından gerçekleştirilen sayısız araştırmalar göstermiştir ki, ülke imajı tüketicilerin ürün değerlendirmelerinde çok önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Ayrıca, gelişmekte olan ülkeler için, ülke imajı negatif olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır. Ancak, bu negatif imajın, imajı genelde oluşturan etkenlerin araştırılarak anlaşılması yolu ile değiştirilebileceği, bu araştırmanın temelini oluşturmaktadır.

Bu araştırmanın amacı Türkiye'nin Singapur'daki imajını ve konumunu detaylı bir şekilde ortaya koymak, ve hangi etkenlerin pozitif, hangilerinin negatif olduğunu göstermektir. Bu yolla hedeflenen, Türk işadamlarına ve yetkililerine geleceğe yönelik stratejik planlama imkanları tanımaktır.

Anahtar Kelimeler; Ülke imajı. Ülke kökeni. Yeniden Konumlama, Uluslararası Pazarlama Stratejileri, Singapulular, Kişileştirme, Gaiplama Analizi, Faktör Analizi, Benzerlilik Algılamaları, Tavır.

(8)

I gratefully acknowledge the valuable assistance and guidance of Assoc. Prof Guliz Ger, without which this study would never have been completed. I also would like to express my gratitude to the other members of the examining committee. Assist. Prof Selçuk Karabati, and Assist. Prof Ashok Thampy, for their support and understanding.

Moreover, I would like to thank my parents. Professors Ulku and Atilla Dicle, to whom 1 am eternally indebted. Without their love and support, completion of this thesis, as well as many other things in my life, would have been impossible.

1 also would like to acknowledge my colleagues, Safak Tanriover and Ahmed G. Raouf, whose never ending support and understanding enabled the completion of this thesis.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

(9)

10

U 12 14 14 15 16 17 17 18 19 20 22 24 26 26 27 30 33 36 IV

(10)

The ever increasing amount of research being conducted on country image and country of origin effects, has proven that both industrial and consumer buyers develop stereotypical images of countries and its products, which eventually affects their purchase decisions (Baughn and Yaprak 1991; Han and Terpstra 1988; Johansson, Douglas and Nonaka 1985; Bilkey and Nes 1982). As Bilkey (1993) points out, country image and country of origin effects have great importance in international marketing strategy, public policy making, and research.

Whether it is 'country' or 'made-in' image, it is suggested that such phenomenon exists and forms a crucial part of consumers product evaluations (Hong and Wyer 1989; Bilkey and Nes 1982; Han 1989). This study will try to provide Turkey's image and current position in Singapore, thus enabling the Turkish stakeholders in developing suitable and affective international marketing strategies towards the region in question.

Country of origin effects have been found to be negative for developing countries (Schooler, Wildt and Jones 1987). However, it is possible to change this negative effect once the aspects of the image are understood (Martin and Eroglu 1993). Just as the basic teachings of marketing show, in order to reposition yourself or your product, you first have to thoroughly understand your current position.

1. INTRODUCTION

In order to uncover and understand the current position of a country, and thus be able to develop affective international marketing strategies, a comprehensive picture has to be attained, including how that country is perceived abroad in terms of its products as well as tourism and investment aspects. Thus, country of origin effects actually give only one part of the overall picture. What is required to get the total picture for Turkey, is a through study of its country image.

(11)

It is important to realize that all the previous research has concentrated on the image of Turkey in the Western World (Ger 1991; Erdem and Rowe 1986), overlooking the gaining importance of the East in the world economy. It is apparent that a study of Turkey's image in the East will open new horizons. Especially, when we consider the lately increasing trade relations, and the future potential trade volumes between the Four Tigers (particularly Singapore) and Turkey, the importance of this study in exploring a virgin area, becomes more apparent.

There are several reasons for why Singapore was chosen as the country to conduct this cross-cultural analysis in. First, as the Far East has provided the world with several economic giants over the last decades, it has become the center of attention in many research ranging from governmental politics to marketing strategies. Singapore, as one of the Four Tigers of the Far East, is believed to be a good sample nation of the region.

Furthermore, the fact that Singapore's second largest trade volume is with the EU, and its largest percentage increase in trade is with EU, shows a promising picture for Turkey in the future (Ministry of Information and the Arts, Singapore, 1993). With the possible entry of Turkey to the EU in the near future, these facts could mean vast amounts of trade between Turkey and Singapore. Thus understanding the image of Turkey in the Singaporian consumers' mind is of crucial importance.

In giving some information about the country where the study was conducted, Singapore's resident population comprising Singapore citizens and permanent residents as of 1992, was estimated at 2,818,200, on a total land area of 641 square kilometers. Chinese residents numbered 2,817,200 or 77.6%, Malays 399,400 (14.2%), Indians 199,600 (7.1%) and persons of other ethnic groups 32,000 (1.1%). The number of resident males is 1,423,700 and females is 1,394,500, giving a ratio of

(12)

almost 1 to 1. The median age is currently 30.6, while it was 25.5 in 1982 (Ministry of Information and the Arts, Singapore, 1993).

Another reason for the selection of Singapore was accessibility to the country as well as to certain segments of the population, which inevitably affects the outcomes of any research.

The main objective of this study is to conduct a descriptive study through the use of questionnaires and projective techniques, to measure the country image of Turkey in Singapore such that rich information is provided with positioning implications, thus providing a framework for future repositioning efforts.

(13)

According to Papadopoulos and Heslop (1993), the study of country image is critical to companies looking for ways to improve their international competitiveness, whether by expanding to foreign markets or protecting their domestic consumer franchise. Especially with the latest trends throughout the world leaning towards regionalization and even globalization, understanding country images takes on a whole new meaning, becoming the corner-stone of establishing international competitiveness.

Country image is also important in gaining a comprehensive picture and understanding topics like international marketing strategy, branding, stereotyping, ethnic imagery, consumer information processing and decision making, as well as international relations at the people or country level.

There have been differing findings in the past research in terms of how country of origin information effects evaluations (Bilkey and Nes 1982), where Han (1989) finds it to be an influencing factor through signalling product quality, and Hong and Wyer (1989) find it to be an attribute.^’^ esp ite these differing findings, and the lack of a general conceptual framework for guiding research efforts (Kochunny et al. 1993), past research has established that country of origin does affect consumers' evaluations of products (Bilkey and Nes 1982; Han and Terpstra 1988; Johansson, Douglas and Nonaka 1985). Additionally, strong evidence has been found to suggest that country of origin information effects product quality perceptions (Hong and Wyer

1989; Kaynak and Cavusgil 1983). IL LITERATURE SURVEY

(i^Past studies have indicated that country evaluation is often the result of judgements of the quality of exported products by countries (Kochunny et al. 1993),

(14)

as well as that product beliefs are sometimes shaped by the economical, social and

•77

technological characteristics of countries (Wang and Lamb 1980). These findings can perhaps be summarized best as consumer decision making being affected by stereotyped images of countries and the products they export, where stereotyping is described as a function of consumers' familiarity, experience, and knowledge of a product and its country origin, characterized as schema-based processing in a cognitive processing framework (Kochunny et al. 1993).

Stereotyping as schema-based processing can be seen as categorization, leading to a reduction of complexity; that is, we simplify the world by clustering objects into groups according to one or more of their distinctive characteristics, thus facilitating and accelerating information processing (Diehl and Jonas 1991).

The premise that consumers use country of origin as stereotypical information in making evaluations is also suggested by Maheswaran (1994) to overcome and better understand the mixed findings of the past research. Additionally, consumer expertise and the type of product-relevant attribute information are identified as factors that moderate country of origin effects, by Maheswaran (1994).

Another important finding is the increasing emphasis on limited consumer information processing and on the unconscious processing of incomplete or simplified information, and simplifying product symbols and cues. This implies that brand positioning cannot take place on the basis of intrinsic, functional product characteristics, instead, brand positioning should be based more upon subjective, attributed characteristics, thus taking into account symbolic and intangible aspects (Poiesz 1989). With this finding in perspective, Han's (1989) findings gain definite grounds, where he states: buyers can use country image in product evaluations when they are unable to detect the true quality of a country's products before purchase; and

(15)

as buyers become more familiar with a country's products, country image may help them summarize their product beliefs and directly affect their brand attitudes.

‘'^Numerous researchers have shown that the country of origin effect is negative for developing countries (Schooler, Wildt and Jones 1987; Bilkey and Nes 1982; Cattin, Jolibert and Lohnes 1982). Having this established, the next question should be how developing countries can overcome this negative effect. As previously mentioned, the answer lies in repositioning. However, to accomplish a repositioning attempt, one has to first examine and understand the current position, and this in turn, requires an understanding of how information is processed, and of the knowledge structure related to a country in memory.

^Moreover, realizing that country image along with countiy-of-origin image may be changed if its aspects are understood, opens a whole new playing arena for today's businesses and governments. Specifically, the ability to manipulate and change the perceptions, attitudes, and associations of consumers, tourists, importers, investors, distributors and retailers, means access to whole new markets as well as to partially closed markets. But, this can only be possible if international managers are able to assess the extent to which relevant country images are favorable or unfavorable, if and how they affect product quality perceptions and purchase decisions, as well as how they can be used to develop effective marketing strategies (Martin and Eroglu 1993).'^"’

According to Martin and Eroglu (1993), country image and country of origin effects have important practical and theoretical implications. From a managerial perspective, international marketers and public policy makers alike, need to understand country images within the context of their own offerings and those of their competition. Similarly, Jaffe and Nebenzahl (1984) have found that multi-national firms with foreign manufacturing operations may risk potential loss in brand image

(16)

depending on the country image of the sourcing country; and Hooley, Shipley and Kneger (1988) show that factors affecting country image also are instrumental for the positioning strategies of firms that compete in their domestic markets against foreign competitors. As from a theoretical perspective, Martin and Eroglu (1993) state that researchers have become increasingly sensitive to theoretical and methodological dimensions of country image effects.

According to Kotler, Haider, and Rein (1993), a country may be situated in one of the following six image situations:

(1) Positive image: Some cities, regions and countries are blessed with positive images. Though each place may have certain flaws and not appeal to everyone as a destination or place to live or place for business, they all can be represented positively to others. They do not require changing the image so much as amplifying it and delivering it to more target groups.

(2) Weak image: Some places are not well known because they are small, lack attractions or do not advertise. If they want more visibility, they need to build some attractions and advertise them. Other places may have attractive features, but may refrain from advertising, not wishing to be overrun with tourists.

(3) Negative image: Many places are stuck with a negative image. They would like less news attention, rather than more; they would like to discover some hidden gem in their makeup that might provide a launching pad for a new image that covers up the old. Yet, if the place advertises a new image, but continues to be the place that gave rise to the old image, the image strategy will not succeed.

(4) Mixed image: Most places contain a mixture of positive and negative elements. Places with mixed images typically emphasize the positive and avoid the negative in preparing their image campaigns.

(5) Contradictory image: A few places emit contradictory images in that people hold opposite views about some features of the place. Here, the strategy challenge is to accentuate the positive so that people eventually stop believing in the opposite, no

(17)

longer-true image. Image reversals, however, are difficult to accomplish by the negative media coverage.

(6) Overly attractive image: Some places are cursed with too much attractiveness that might be spoiled if they promote themselves further. In some extreme cases, cities have actually fabricated and disseminated a negative image to discourage visitors and fortune hunters. They may put out the word that the townspeople are unfriendly or that the weather is bad.

Again according to Kotler, Haider, and Rein (1993), images are not easy to develop or change. They require research into how residents and outsiders currently see the place; they require identifying true and untrue elements, as well as strong and weak elements; they require inspiration and choice among contending pictures; they require elaborating the choice in a thousand ways so that the residents, businesses, and others truly express the consensual image; and they require a substantial budget for the image's dissemination.

Marion and Michel (1986), argue that to understand the concept of image, it is necessary to think of it at three different levels; (I) "Desired image" refers to the target image that emerges from the strategic planning process of the firm; (2) "Diffused image" concerns the execution of plans by such actors as company employees and associate agents, and almost always varies to a greater or lesser degree from the first; (3) "Registered image" refers to the image actually held by consumers and other publics. It is formed on the basis of actions of the company and the actors it controls, but also of inputs from other actors in the general business environment. This tri level view of image can be applied to countries as much as to companies and brands. A country can be likened to a company whose chief executives (government) design strategic plans (national objectives and policies) that are executed by its employees (government agencies, political leaders) and also influence, directly or indirectly, the actions of associated agents (companies, other organizations and the public). The

(18)

iK_{country's total registered image is the result of at least three types of outputs; (1) its}

own outputs ("products"), which range from exports and foreign investments by its companies to cultural products (books, movies, etc.) and the statements and actions of its leaders; (2) the effects of external elements, such as association with regional conditions (e.g., "Balkan-style yoghurt") and the outputs of other actors (e.g., competing global brands or actions of neighboring countries); (3) the economic, political, and social conditions of the country as these are perceived by foreign "customers" (foreign governments, buyers, the media, foreign publics, etc.), who also serve to diffuse their conception of a country's image to other publics. rP

According to Kotler, Haider and Rein (1993), planners follow a two-step process to assess a place image: First, they select a target audience. The target audience must be easily characterized by common traits, interests, or perceptions. The second step requires planners to measure the target audience's perceptions along relevant attributes. Targeting specific audience groups was required to avoid the problem of unstable or inconsistent images.

For the objectives of this study, if Turkey is to improve its current position in terms of international competitiveness, overcoming the negative associations it might have in the minds of consumers, tourists, investors, importers, or exporters, originating from being a developing country, a clear description of its country image must be provided shedding light on what is positive and negative, such that appropriate repositioning and marketing strategies can be developed and adapted.

(19)

III. METHODOLOGY

In order to achieve the previously stated objectives, a descriptive study was conducted consisting of a questionnaire and a projective technique. The questionnaire, which was adopted from Ger (1991), involves multiple types of questions with open- and closed-ended questions measuring similarity perceptions, attitudes and thoughts. The projective technique used was personification.

IlLA. Questionnaire & Procedure

‘*^The quantitative portion of the study, covering the first two parts of the questionnaire (Appendix 1), measures the respondents' overall similarity perceptions, and their attitudes towards eleven Mediterranean countries, namely: Israel, Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, France, Italy, Spain and Portugal.

In the first part, the respondents were asked to compare each country with each of the rest, and to assign a number representing the overall similarity of that country to the other, using a seven-point similarity scale (7=completely similar, l=completely dissimilar). In the second part, respondents were asked to evaluate each country with respect to how much they liked or how favorably they thought about that country. In extracting the attitudes of the respondents', this part involved the use of four seven-point evaluative semantic differential scales as; good-bad, likeable-dislikable (reverse scored for analysis purposes), nice-awful, and willing to visit-unwilling to visit. These questions were asked with the purpose of attaining a comparison of evaluative ratings across the eleven countries to indicate Turkey's rating, as well as extracting a possible relationship between perceived similarities and evaluations.

(20)

The qualitative portion of the questionnaire, third and fourth parts, pertains only to Turkey, consisting of open-ended questionnaire responses, including thought listing, and naming similar countries and reasons for similarity.

In the third part, the respondents were asked to list all the thoughts and feelings that occurred to them when they thought about Turkey. Moreover, the respondents were then asked to rate their thoughts as positive if it was favorable, or negative if unfavorable, and to evaluate how closely each thought was associated with Turkey using a seven-point bipolar rating scale anchored by very closely associated- not associated at all. These questions were asked to extract the categories of thoughts coming to the respondents minds, and to find out what percentage of these were positive and why.

In the last part, the questionnaire ends by asking some background questions such as: age, sex, nationality, and marital status; followed by two open-ended questions involving listing of any three countries similar to Turkey and why each is similar, where the object is to extract similarity perceptions according to the frequency of mentions of the reasons for similarity. Lastly two other questions measuring familiarity: a seven-point scale of claimed knowledge about Turkey and whether a person had ever been in Turkey or not, were asked to measure the effects of similarity on a respondents' feelings and attitudes.

IILB. Personification

Another qualitative portion of the research was the 'describe-an-imaginary- person’ task (Appendix 2), where the respondents were asked to imagine the country Turkey as a person, and to draw a picture of this person. Additionally, respondents

(21)

were asked to describe this imaginary person in terms of physical features, demographic characteristics, socio-economic status, etc. Furthermore, the respondents were asked to describe who this person would be like, how they would relate to this person, and how they would interact with this person. This task also ends with background questions, along with measurements of familiarity.

This method was included to elicit impressions and reflections, to go beyond a list of positive and negative thoughts, and examine the interactions among the thoughts, and the symbolic meaning.

ULC. Sample

A convenience sample of 49 Singaporian respondents was taken, out of which 31 of them responded to the questionnaire, and 18 of them to the personification task. All of the participants were college students at the National University of Singapore, the biggest and most respected university in Singapore. Participants were also all single, and had never been in Turkey. The participants were selected from Economics, Business, and Computer Science majors, with the idea that they could become potential business partners with Turkey in the near future.

Out of the 31 questionnaire respondents, 61% were females and 39% males. The average age in the sample was 21.4. In terms of the age groups, 36% were between the ages of 19 and 20, 29% were at the age of 21, 19% at 22, and 16% were 23 and above. These respondents, when asked to rate themselves on how much they know about Turkey, responded as either very little or not at all.

As for the personification task, out of the 18 respondents, 55% were females and 45% males. 39% of the respondents fell between the ages of 19 and 20. 22% of

(22)

them were at the age of 21, and again 22% of them 22. Respondents within the age group of 23 and above, formed 17% of the participants. Personification task respondents, similar to the questionnaire respondents, also rated themselves as knowing either very little or nothing at all about Turkey.

(23)

IV. ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES

IV.A. Cluster Analysis

"In marketing, there is keen interest in developing useful ways of classifying objects. The segmentation base could involve many characteristics, ranging from the commonly used socio-economic bases to the more recently advocated human behavior and psychological bases. One thing is sure, it would be based on numerous factors and not simply on one or two factors. This, of course, raises a problem for the researcher-how to identify natural groupings of the objects given the multivariate nature of the data. To base the classification on a single factor would be an oversimplification. Yet some means of combining variables must be found if more than one factor is to be used. Cluster analysis offers the researcher a way out of the dilemma. It specifically deals with how objects should be assigned to groups so that there will be as much similarity within and difference among groups as possible." (Churchill, 1991).

Cluster analysis, while using a single linkage procedure in forming natural groupings of countries according to their similarities, first sorts the similarity coefficients from the most to the least. At this stage, the first clustering of the countries with the highest similarity coefficients is actualized. Systematic lowering of the similarity coefficients follows this stage, while the union of the countries at each similarity level is recorded. This process is repeated until no further clustering is possible, while at each stage the union of two countries, the addition of a country into a cluster, or the union of two previously formed clusters, are decided according to the criterion of single linkage procedure.

(24)

For the purpose of this study, the software program SPSS was used to perform cluster analysis on the forming of natural groupings of countries according to their similarities. Using the Euclidean distance between two points, as the similarity coefficient assigned by the respondents to each country, enabled the actualization of the cluster analysis. Results of cluster analysis are displayed in the form of a dendogram. A dendogram is simply a 'tree' that shows the groups of countries being clustered at different similarity levels.

IV.B. Factor Analysis

Factor analysis, as an analysis of interdependence, gives equal importance to all variables, and mainly concentrates on the whole set of relationships among variables that characterize objects. Factor analysis focuses on the whole set of interrelationships displayed by numerous variables; it does not treat one or more of the variables as dependent variables to be predicted by the others, say, regression or discriminant analysis. The purposes of factor analysis are actually two; data reduction and substantive interpretation. The first purpose emphasizes summarizing the important information in a set of observed variables by a new, smaller set of variables expressing that which is common among the original variables. The second purpose concerns the identification of the constructs or dimensions that underlie the observed variables. (Churchill, 1991) For the purpose of this study, again the software program SPSS was used to perform the factor analysis on the attitudes of respondents towards each country.

(25)

In clustering the similar countries according to the reasons stated by the respondents in the fourth part of the questionnaire, the 'Iterative Sorting in Overlapping Reasons' technique, which was developed by our classmate Ahmed G. Rauof, was used.

This technique uses a simple coding procedure of the reasons stated for each country. In the first stage, all the different reasons stated by the respondents are listed and coded by numbers 1 to n (n being the number of total different reasons). In the second stage, a table is formed with the countries and the coded reasons for each country on the vertical side, and the coded reason numbers on the horizontal axis. Through the comparison of reasons stated for a country, with the coded numbers of the reasons, the table is filled with binary numbers, showing a '!' if the country had that reason specified by the respondents, and a 'O' otherwise.

With the third stage, the actual clustering process begins. Through a repetitive comparison of rows (countries), the process is able to identify countries with the most amount of similar reasons. Although this process is quite long and tedious, at the end it gives a listing of the summations of the similar reasons in each comparison conducted on every iteration. A sorting of these summations along with the countries, results in the identification of the two countries which should be clustered first. Then, the process is repeated from the second stage on, with the newly clustered countries replacing the two separate countries listed in the binary table. At the end of each loop, the process shows which country should be clustered with which group and at which level.

IV.C. Iterative Sortins in Overlappin2 Reasons

(26)

V. RESULTS

V.A. Similarity Perceptions

The similarity perceptions of the respondents were analyzed through the use of hierarchical cluster analysis. The results of the cluster analysis (Appendix 4) shows that Turkey has been clustered with Egypt at distance level 1, indicating a high level of similarity. It is possible to explain this clustering from the reasons stated by respondents to the fourth part of the questionnaire (Table 4), where Egypt was also listed as most similar to Turkey. First of all, both countries are Muslims, and as a result, the lifestyles within both countries are perceived as similar to each other. Moreover, both countries are Mediterranean countries, thus have similar climates. Another factor in this outcome, according to the listed reasons, is the economical situations of the two countries, which are both in struggling positions. Also, Singaporians are linking the physical appearances of the people of the two countries, as well as the demographics, attitudes, and feelings of the people. Other reasons listed for the similarity of Egypt to Turkey are: being modem Muslim countries, similar architecture, both having a lot of ancient monuments, close geographical locations, and similar cultures.

Great difficulty was experienced in interpreting the results of the hierarchical cluster analysis. It was observed that these clusterings were not consistent with other findings in the study, particularly that of part four, iterative sorting in overlapping reason (Appendix 5), which was more reliable since it consisted of a self-listing by the respondents and was easier to respond to. Only the interpretation for the clustering of Turkey with Egypt was provided because this does match up with other findings and reasons.

(27)

In identifying the reasons for this unexpected cluster analysis results, the small amount of respondents in the questionnaire can be shown. With such a sample size, the software package used could generate noise more than anything, providing misleading results. Another reason might be given as the question itself being rather hard to fill in by the respondents. Perhaps even a tack of attention or not taking it seriously, by the respondents, could have led to such uninterpretable results.

V.B. Iterative Sortins in Overlapoine Reasons

After conducting the previously described clustering procedure on the countries listed by the respondents and the reasons they provided (Table 4), it was observed that Greece along with Egypt were sighted as the most similar countries to Turkey (Appendix 5). The reasons stated for these countries were: people (friendliness, physical appearance, attitudes, etc.), culture, ancient monuments, as well as architecture, state of the economy, history, and close geographical locations.

A second group of countries that came out to be as similar to Turkey as Greece and Egypt, were Israel and Spain. The reasons stated for these countries were: history, culture, lifestyles, people, and being loyal and devoted religious people.

The last group of countries that were found to be similar to Turkey were Iran and Syria. However, the similarities of these countries to Turkey is much less compared to the previously described groups, because Iran and Syria are linked at the first distance level, whereas other groups were both clustered at the fourth level.

'^In conclusion, we can state that Singaporians see Greece, Egypt, Israel, and Spain as being most similar to Turkey. The main reasons stated for these similarities can be summarized as: culture, history, historic monuments, architecture, as well as

(28)

the general notion of the people of Turkey in terms of feelings, attitudes, etc. Although these are all positive similarity reasons, Singaporians also see similarities between Turkey, Iran and Syria. The reasons stated as Islam, dresses, outfits, and state of the economy, give us hints that these similarity perceptions are not all that positive. -7

F.C. Attitudes Towards Countries

Since attitude scales were reduced to one factor through the use of factor analysis, a single listing of countries was achieved according to the attitudes of the respondents. After examining the means (Table 1) of respondents' evaluations of all eleven countries based on the scales of good-bad, nice-awful, like-dislike, and willing to visit-unwilling to visit, we see that Turkey comes out to be fifth. France comes out first, followed by Italy, Greece, and Egypt, respectively.

Moreover, a statistical comparison test (Scheffe's test) was conducted on each of the four scales (Appendix 6). The results of this test, along with the factor loadings (Table 2), showed that each scale was a significant measure of the respondents' attitudes towards the listed countries. None of the scales were any less reliable than the other ones.

We observe that Singaporians clearly do not have positive attitudes towards Algeria and Yugoslavia, as these countries are rated significantly lower than Turkey. For what used to be Yugoslavia, the negative attitudes can be seen as originating from the war that is currently taking place there. As for Algeria, the existence of radical religious movements, and the media coverage of these movements in Singapore, can be given as reasons.

(29)

As for Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, which are listed as sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively, after Turkey, we can state the struggling economic conditions of these countries for why Singaporians rated them as such.

In summary, we can say that Singaporians have a sense of admiration for what is European, and thus the ratings of France and Italy as first and second. Moreover, Singaporians also are highly affected by tourism campaigns, which is evident in listing of France, Italy, Greece, and Egypt, in the top four positions. AH of these countries campaign heavily in Singapore to attract Singaporian tourists. Furthermore, Singaporians have slightly positive, if not neutral, attitudes towards Turkey. This rating stems from the fact that Turkey has received some negative media coverage over the past months due to the problems originating from terrorism, and the short invasion of Northern Iraq.

y. D. Caiesories o f Thoushis and Their Associations

In this part of the questionnaire, the participants were asked to list all the thoughts and feelings that occurred to them naturally when they closed their eyes and thought about Turkey. Moreover, the respondents were then asked to rate their thoughts as positive if it was favorable, or negative if unfavorable, and to evaluate how closely each thought was associated with Turkey.

These thoughts and ratings have been content analyzed and categorized under the headings of: (l)Sights and sites, (2) Economic, Political, and Social Situation, (3) History and Culture, (4) Human Rights, Safety, and Freedom, (5) Region, (6) Representative Things, Images, Symbols, and Events, and (7) Representative Products and Foods (Ger 1991). (Table 3)

(30)

Out of a total of 154 different thoughts listed by the respondents. Economic, Political and Social Situation category got 33% of all thoughts, of which only 58.8% were positive ones. This shows that Singaporians do not particularly care much about Turkey's economic, political, or social status. Although they believe that Turkey has friendly people and an easy going pace of life, they also think that women are not treated equally, that guns are easily available, and that Turkey is a turbulent country with wide-spread terrorism.

The second largest category was Sights and Sites, with 29% of the thoughts. 86.7% of these thoughts were positive, showing that Singaporians have a very positive outlook on Turkey in terms of landscape, weather, and touristic locations. Some of the thoughts mentioned most often were: Impressive architecture, natural beauties, historical places, and mosques.

The next largest category was Representative Things, Images, Symbols, and Events, with 21% of the thoughts, with 68.8% of these thoughts being positive. Among the positive thoughts listed were; Female Prime Minister, Turkish Bazaars, Belly Dancers, and Turkish costumes. Turkey being a Muslim country got the highest amount of sightings, but the ratings of this thought were equally split between negative and positive.

“^In conclusion, we can say that Singaporians have a highly positive outlook on Turkey in terms of tourism, landscape, and historical aspects. Moreover, they highly rate Turkish food and deserts, as well as Turkish customs and tradition, such as dances, costumes, and music. However, they do not care much about Turkey being a Muslim country because it reminds them of women in black gowns, being treated unequally. They also have very negative associations of Turkey being a turbulent country, where terrorism is widely spread.

(31)

The sketches drawn and the descriptions typically pictured Turkey as a male (with four exceptions), who is quite tall (taller than Asians, but smaller than Europeans), hairy with beard and mustache, brown hair, and brown eyes. The age of Turkey is seen to be in between 25 to 50, and being a religious teacher, merchant or a businessman in life.

Most participants pictured Turkey as having a college degree, with a middle to upper income level, and belonging to a middle to upper social class. He was seen as a person owning a nice car, and taking vacations in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, or India. He was said to be a family oriented man, married with several children. Moreover, he was portrayed as usually being a friendly person, leading a simple lifestyle, honest, and hard working. However, it was noted by most that, although Turkey is a friendly person, he is also violent tempered when provoked.

Turkey was pictured as having a Caucasian look, and as a mix of Western and Middle Eastern looks. Most importantly, Turkey was seen as a person who holds strong Islamic beliefs, but was specifically stated by some respondents as not being a fundamentalist. As for his outfits, it was described as mainly being Arab like, and traditional. It was mentioned by several respondents that Turkey as a person is not well known, and needs a lot of attention. He was said to be a determined person, living according to his own rules which he sets for himself Some comments are as follows:

"I don’t think that he is someone who is well-known, but rather one who is very ordinary."

"Turkey would be dressed like an Arab, with long, flowy light overcoats in white with gold embraced hems or black vrith gold trimmings and a black turban."

У.Е. Personification

(32)

"He probably holds an occupation of a religious teacher or educator"

"He has a simple lifestyle, he wants to be away from the complex and elaborated. He lives according to his own convictions, not influenced by society's norms."

"He should be around 25, and is of course a male. He dresses like those people in the Middle East countries. He drives a Japanese car. He goes to England for holiday. He believes in giving his best in everything he does. He always aspires to do something that could be remembered by many people. He has always believed that one should pursue his interest and derive great satisfaction from it.”

"Turkey would be a relatively big size person. Bigger than most Asians, but smaller sized than Europeans."

Most respondents also pointed out that they would be willing to befriend him, and even date him occasionally if he were of the opposite sex. However, they mentioned that they would be really cautious not to offend him, as he is short tempered. Thus they said, they would not be telling him any jokes, rather just talking about general things. Some other comments are as follows:

"If he is in a good mood, we could go to a cafe and chat." "I would like to be his friend, and get to know him better."

"A stranger to me, wouldn’t be talking to him unless there are interest that could be fulfilled by doing so."

"I may befriend the person, most probably chit-chat with him, talk about general things. I may even confide my secrets with him in time. If Turkey were a girl, I may date her, but nothing deeper than friendship, just a friend to talk something serious with."

"I would befriend him, and try to find out more about Turkey, its culture, people, language, and try Turkish food."

(33)

In examining the results extracted so far in the study, we see that Singaporians have a strong negative association of Islam, apparent mainly in their listing of Algeria in one of the lowest rankings, and their self-listed thoughts as women in black gowns, and men in white. Moreover, it is also apparent that Singaporians do have these negative Islamic perceptions associated with Turkey in their minds, which can be extracted from the fact that they have listed Iran and Syria as being the fifth and sixth most similar countries to Turkey. However, Singaporians do not perceive Turkey as negatively as they do other Muslim countries, because they have clustered Turkey with Egypt, giving the reason of both being 'Modem Muslim Countries'. This notion of being modem, mainly originates from the fact that Singaporians perceive Turkey as being a mix between the East and the West. This is supported by the listing of Greece, Egypt, Spain, and Israel, as the self-listed most similar countries to Turkey.

Moreover, Singaporians have a strong positive association of Turkey with being a beautiful country, and having rich touristic aspects. Although these positive associations and thoughts overcome, to some extent, the negative association they have of Turkey being a Muslim country, Singaporians still perceive Turkey as being a turbulent and unstable country, where terrorism is a major problem. The fact that Singaporians portrayed Turkey as being a short tempered person, supports the finding that they perceive Turkey as a turbulent and unstable country.

It was interesting to observe that Turkey was perceived as a tall and powerful person. However, in making these comments, the respondents also pointed out that Turkey would be taller or bigger than most Asians, but would be smaller than Europeans and Americans. This also shows that Singaporians perceive Turkey as being a mix between the East and the West. Moreover, it also points to the fact that

KF. Synthesis

(34)

they perceive Europeans as powerful, as well as having physically attractive features. Furthermore, Singaporians’ thoughts relating to Turkey being a person who is not well known, needing a lot of attention, along with their self-listed thoughts of Turkey having a low international profile, are two extractions which support each other.

Singaporians, in portraying Turkey as having a middle to upper income level, and belonging to a middle to upper social class, site that although Turkey is a traditional and religious person, he also likes to lead a comfortable life financially, and can afford this through being a merchant or a businessman. Thus, according to Singaporians, Turkey is not like most other Muslim countries in that Turkey leads a more extravagant life, with a nice car and taking nice vacations, while leading a highly religious life at the same time.

(35)

VI. CONCLUSION, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

IV.A. Limitations

There are several limitations to this study that should be noted. First of all, because of the sample size, a reliable cluster analysis could not be attained. A size of 31 turned out to be too small for SPSS to conduct a cluster analysis with, instead it produced misleading results. Thus, the results of the cluster analysis was not taken into consideration for the conclusions and recommendations of the study.

Second, because all the respondents rated themselves as knowing either veiy little or nothing at all about Turkey, one of the objectives of the study, namely measuring the effects of familiarity on feelings and attitudes, could not be accomplished. On the seven-point scale provided in the questionnaire, the mean value of the respondents' familiarity with Turkey came out to be 2, with a standard deviation of about 1.

Concerning the questionnaire itself, because it was adopted from Ger (1991), without modifications, Yugoslavia was not replaced although it has parted into two separate countries since then. The ongoing war in what used to be Yugoslavia, definitely affected the respondents attitudes towards this country.

Another limitation of the study stems from the sample of Singaporians participating in the study. Because all respondents were university students, their responses, thus the results of this study, are not generalizable to Singapore as a whole. Moreover, the results do not really pertain to immediate business associated activities. Rather, the findings of the study as well as its conclusions, have turned out to be more applicable to specifically Turkey as a country overall, and to potential future business

(36)

relations it might have with the participant students as customers or partners. In order to get results pertaining to business related conclusions and recommendations, a sample consisting mostly of Singaporian businessmen, as well as consumers of all age groups, should be involved.

VLB. Conclusion and Discussion

It was mentioned in the introduction section of the study that, in order for Turkey to overcome the negative associations and perceptions it might have in the minds of Singaporian consumers, the precise image of Turkey has to be extracted first. Moreover, understanding what associations are favorable and which are not, is also very important. Only after these findings are available, a viable and effective repositioning effort, with appropriate strategies can be developed.

As for the findings of this study towards this aim, several crucial points have been extracted. In terms of the favorable associations of Singaporians towards Turkey, historical aspects come out as one of the strongest. Singaporians perceive Turkey as having a rich, immense history, and as a country full of historical and mystical monuments and places to visit. Architecture is also positively associated with Turkey, due mainly to the historic architecture existing in Turkey, such as mosques, palaces, etc.

Turkish culture is another highly favorable association Singaporians have. They perceive the Turkish culture as being rich and deeply embedded in the society, and wish to find out more about it, even experience it if they can. They have highly positive associations towards the Turkish traditional lifestyle and customs such as dances, costumes, and music, along with values such as strong family relations.

(37)

Another positive association comes from the people of Turkey themselves. Singaporians perceive Turkish people as being friendly, peaceful, having a positive attitude, hospitable, with likeable physical appearances. Moreover, they believe Turkish people to be honest, thrustable, and hard working people. Singaporians are willing, for the most part, to associate themselves with Turkey and Turkish people, and to befriend them.

Perhaps most importantly, Singaporians have a very positive attitude towards Turkey in terms of tourism. They perceive Turkey as being a very beautiful country, having sandy beaches, an interesting landscape, historical monuments and sites, impressive architecture, beautiful lakes, and a highly suitable climate.

On the other hand, Singaporians have some negative associations towards Turkey. The most important one among these, is the association with Islam. Singaporians seem to have a very negative attitude towards Islam, originating from their association of Islam with thoughts such as women dressing in all black gowns, and again women not being treated equally. In the personification task, almost half of the participants drew Turkey as having Arab like outfits, with fez and turbans. If Singaporians did not have a negative attitude towards Islam, this would not be a problem. However, because they do, Turkey has to position itself as a more European country.

Another unfavorable association Singaporians have about Turkey, is that they perceive Turkey as being a highly turbulent country, both in terms of terrorism and the state of the economy. Especially the negative media coverage Turkey has been getting in Singapore, due to the terroristic activities, recent riots, and the invasion into Iraq, has played a big role in this negative association. Moreover, they perceive Turkey as having an unorganized and crowded society, being a less developed country facing problems economically, as well as with pollution and noise. They have been

(38)

widely exposed to the problems Turkey is facing with Kurds, and they believe that guns are easily attainable in Turkey.

Besides the favorable and unfavorable associations extracted in the study, there are two other findings that are of importance for recommendation purposes. First of all, Singaporians have been found to be highly influenced by tourism campaigns. The fact that the top four seats in the results of the factor analysis, were taken up by France, Italy, Morocco, and Egypt, proves this conclusion, because all these countries have been advertising heavily in Singapore to attract Singaporian tourists.

One last finding, is that Singaporians were found to have a sense of admiration for what is European. They perceive Europeans as big and powerful people, as well as being highly influential throughout the world. Singaporians have a tendency of linking what is good, strong, beautiful, precious, and approachable, with being European.

In comparing the findings of this study with those of Ger (1991), we see that there are great similarities between Singaporians' and Europeans' perceptions, attitudes and associations, towards Turkey. We see that in both studies, respondents have a high positive association of Turkey with landscape, weather, historical monuments and sites, as well as the culture. Moreover, in both studies Turkey appeared as a mix between East and West, while being considered as closer to non- European countries, mainly due to the religious and Arab-like culture associations.

On the other hand, similar perceptions were found in both studies in terms of what the respondents found to be unfavorable. Especially, the economic, political, and social situation of Turkey was perceived negatively by respondents, with terrorism and turbulent economy as examples. Moreover, Religion also came out to

(39)

be a strong negative association in the minds of Singaporian respondents. One particular difference is that, Singaporians also have positive associations in terms of the people of Turkey, where they are willing to befriend them. Also, it was interesting to observe that Singaporians perceive Turkish people as being quite tall. Overall, we can say that Singaporians have more positive attitudes towards, and better perceptions of Turkey, compared to the Europeans' attitudes and perceptions.

VLB. Recommendations

From the conclusions listed above, it is obvious that Turkey has certain strengths and weaknesses. Its strengths lie in the fact that Singaporians do appreciate certain things about Turkey, particularly the touristic aspects, its history and historic monuments, and perhaps most importantly, its culture. On the other hand, the weaknesses of Turkey originate mainly from terrorism and religious movements.

However, there are also opportunities for Turkey to improve its country image in the eyes of Singaporians. We can gather these opportunities under two separate headings, namely: Tourism and Business Relations.

First of all, the conclusion that Singaporians are highly affected by tourism campaigns, indicates the need for a strong and effective advertising campaign for Turkey in Singapore. This campaign has to be designed to emphasize the strengths Turkey has, particularly its rich touristic resources, along with its historical aspects, showing that Turkey is not all about fundamentalist movements or terrorism. The fact that Turkey is a modem Muslim country has to be communicated, reassuring that Turkey is not like Iran, Syria, or Algeria, who are perceived as fundamentalist countries by Singaporians. Moreover, as Singaporians perceive Turkey as being an underdeveloped country, this has to be turned around and used to Turkey's advantage.

(40)

This can be achieved through communicating that Turkey is still natural and unspoiled, not merely a tourist trap, taking advantage of Singaporians' perception of Turkey as not being well known, and having low international profiles. The positive associations Singaporians have of Turkish people, also has to be further emphasized. Specifically, the hospitality of Turkish people, along with their positive attitudes and friendliness has to be communicated. Perhaps most importantly, advantage can be taken of Singaporians' perception of Turkey as being a mix between the East and West. Along this line, a slogan such as "Where East meets West; Turkey; unspoiled natural beauties, historic monuments, and friendly people are awaiting you!", can be used on posters showing Turkey's various touristic locations, historic landmarks, as well as specific vacation activities taking place such as water sports. An important point to pay attention to is that the people used on these posters should be mainly European looking people, with built bodies and tall appearances. TV advertisements can be organized along the same lines, but they should be also used to communicate that Turkey is not full of people in Arab-like outfits. For example, mosques can be shown being visited by tourists along with the Turkish people around, communicating that Islam is an ordinary part of life in Turkey in a positive manner, not in terms of fundamentalist religious movements.

The second opportunity for Turkey comes from the conclusion that Singaporians have a sense of admiration for what is European. This leads us to suggest that Turkey should try to position itself more as a part of Europe, instead of Islamic or Middle Eastern countries. This has enormous business implications. If Turkey is able to join the EU in the near future, thus achieving a closer relation to Europe than to the Middle East, this will be a great boost to Turkey's image in Singapore. Singaporians should be viewed as future potential customers and business partners. As customers, if Singaporians perceive Turkey as more of a European country, they will have a more positive attitude towards Turkish products as well as Turkey as a country to spend their vacations. As potential business partners,

(41)

Singaporians will have higher tendencies of entering joint ventures with Turkish companies whether it is in Singapore, Turkey, or anywhere else in the World. Accordingly, specific positioning efforts should be developed targeting each. For Singaporians as customers, associations should be established between European goods and Turkish goods, perhaps showing that even Europeans use and depend on Turkish goods, why shouldn’t they. As for Singaporians as business partners, attention should be directed to the already established joint ventures between European companies and Turkish ones, and the success stories achieved in these partnerships, suggesting that the same can be established between Turkish and Singaporian firms. Furthermore, the advantages that Turkey's location will bring to Singaporian partners should also be communicated.

(42)

REFERENCES

Baughn, C.C., and Yaprak, A. (1991), Mapping Countiy of Origin Research; Recent Developments and Emerging Avenues, in Product-Country

Images: Impact and Role in International Marketing. N. Papadopoulos and L.

Heslop, eds., N.Y., International Business Press, 89-115.

Bilkey, W.J. (1993), Foreword, in Product and Country Image: Current Perspective. N. Papadopoulos and L. Heslop, eds., xix-xx.

Bilkey, W.J., and Erik Nes (1982), "Country of Origin Effects on Product Evaluations," Journal of International Business Studies. 10 (Spring- Summer),89-99.

Cattin, P., A. Jolibert, and C. Lohnes, (1982), "A Cross-Cultural Study of'Made-In' Concepts", Journal of International Business Studies, 13, 131-141.

Churchill, Gilbert A. Jr., (1991), Marketing Research, Methodological Foundations, Orlando, FL, The Dryden Press, 5th edition.

Diehl, M., and K. Jonas, (1991), "Measures of National Stereotypes as Predictors of the Latencies of Inductive Versus Deductive Stereotypic Judgements",

European Journal of Social Psychology, 21, 317-330.

Erdem, O., and C. Rowe, (1986), "Image of Turkey and its Products in Canada," in The Role of Marketing in Development: Proceedings of the International Conference on Marketing and Development, eds. E. Kumcu, et.al., Muncie, IN; Ball State University, 300-307.

Ger, G., (1995), "Country Image: Perceptions, Attitudes, and Associations", Working Paper, Bilkent University.

Ger, G., (1991), "Country Image: Perceptions, Attitudes and Associations, and Their Relationship to Context", in the Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Marketing and Development, eds. R. R. Dholakia and K. C. Bothra, New Delhi, India, 390-398.

(43)

Han, (y.M., ( 1989), "Country Image: Halo or Summary Construct?" Journal of

' Marketing Research. 26 (May), 222-229.

/

H ^ , C.M., and V. Terpstra, (1988), "Country of Origin: Effects for Uni-National and Bi-National Products". Journal of International Business Studies. 16

(Summer), 235-256.

^Hong,^, and R.S.Wyer, (1989), "Effects of Country of Origin and Product Attribute Information on Product Evaluation: An Information Processing Perspective", Journal of Consumer Research. 16, 175-187,

Hooley, G., D. Shipley, and N. Krieger, (1988), "A Method for Modeling Consumers' Perceptions of Country of Origin", International Marketing Review. (Autumn), 67-76.

Jaffe, E.D., and I.D. Nebenzahl, (1984), 'Alternative Questionnaire Formats for Country Image Studies", Journal of Marketing Research. 21 (November), 463- 471.

r

Johansson, J.K., S.P. Douglas, and I. Nonaka, (1985), "Assessing the Impact of Country of Origin on Product Evaluations: A New Methodological Perspective", Journal of Marketing Research. 22 (November),373-381.

Kaynak, E., T. Cavusgil, (1983), "Consumer Attitudes Towards Products of Foreign Origin: Do They Vary Across Product Classes?", International Journal of Advertising. 2, 147-157.

K i^unny, C.M., E. Babakus, R. Berl, W. Marks, (1993), "Schematic Representation of Country Image: Its Effects on Product Evaluations", Journal of International Consumer Marketing. 5(1), 5-29.

Kotler, P., Haider D.H., and Rein I., (1993), Marketing Places, N.Y., The Free Press.

[ Martirijj I.M., and S. Eroglu, (1993), "Measuring a Multi-Dimensional Construct: ' Country Image". Journal of Business Research. 28. 191-210.

(44)

Mahesvvar^, D., ( 1994), "Country of Origin as a Stereotype: Effects of Consumer ..„ and Attribute Strength on Product Evaluations", Journal of

Consumer Research. 21 (September), 354-365.

Marion, G., and Michel D., (1986), Marketing Mode d'emploi, Paris, Ed. d'Organization.

Papadopoulos N. and Heslop, L.A., (1993), Product-Country Images: Impact and

Role in International Marketing, N.Y., International Business Press, h ^ V. P

. /

Poiesz, Theo B.C., (1989), "The Image Concept: Its Place in Consumer Psychology", Journal of Economic Psychology. 10,457-472.

Schoc^r, C., A. Wildt, and J. Jones, (1987), "Strategy Development for Manufactured Exports of Third World Countries to Developed Countries", Journal of Global Marketing. 1 (1-2), 53-67.

Singapore Ministry of Information and the Arts, (1993), "Singapore, Facts and Pictures", Singapore National Printers Ltd., Singapore.

Wang, C.K.,;^ang, G.K., and C. Lamb, (1980), "Foreign Environmental Factors Influencing

American Consumers' Predispositions Toward European Products", Journal of Academy of Marketing Science. 8 (Fall), 345-356.

(45)

APPENDIX 1

(46)

I . SIHILARITY OF COUNTRIES

Compare each of the countries listed in the columns to the countries indicated in each rov. Assign a number from the following reference scale to reflect your assessment of each country's overall similarity to the country in each rov.

Reference scale: Completely Similar Completely Dissimilar Morocco Yugoslavia Spain Algeria Greece France Israel Italy Egypt Turkey Portugal , ‘ir A.''

^ s ^

N

§1

1

PLEASE CHECK THAT YOU HAVE FILLED OUT ALL THE CELLS AND THEN TURN TO THE NEXT PAGE

(47)

I I . ATTITUDES TOWARDS COUNTRIES

Now, please evaluate each of the following countries with respect to how much you like or how favorably you think about that country. Fill in the

(48)

PLEASE GO TO THE NEXT PAGE AFTER YOU HAVE COMPLETELY FILLED OUT

(49)

Nov, I would like to find out all the thoughts and feelings that occur to you when you think about Turkey. These thoughts may consist of

- events, objects, products, places, things associated with Turkey - information related to Turkey

- personal values or feelings of yours about Turkey

- any memories about Turkey or involving Turkey.

In writing your thoughts, please observe the following:

a) separate your thoughts into individual ideas to be written down separately

b) use one numbered line below per idea

c) express each thought clearly

d) write down as many thoughts that occur to you as soon as you can.

I would like to know all those thoughts that pop into your mind naturally when you close your eyes and think about Turkey.

Things that occur to you when you think about Turkey: I I I . THOUGHTS

Nov please go back to the beginning of your list and rate the thoughts you wrote down. Use the space at the end of each line to mark (4^) if you

think that thought is positive or favorable, or (-) if it is negative or unfavorable.

Then evaluate how closely each thought is associated with Turkey, writing down next to each thought the appropriate number from the following scale

(50)

IV . GENERAL

1) Age:

2) National!ty: 3) Sex:

4) Marital status: single married divorced/vidoved 5) List 3 countries (can be

closely associated with

any country in or very similar

the world) that you think are to Turkey:

Country 1 Country 2 Country 3

6) Why or in what way are the countries you just listed closely associated with or very similar to Turkey?